First, let's define the terms. The war on drugs isn't a single policy—it's a framework of enforcement, prevention, and treatment. Calling it an abject failure assumes its core goal was total eradication, which was never realistic. No war on any human behavior has achieved zero use. That's not failure, that's setting the wrong metric.
The real goal is reducing harm and limiting availability. By that measure, we've seen real wins: drug use among teens dropped significantly since the 1970s. Cocaine use fell by over half from its peak. These aren't failures—they're results of sustained interdiction and deterrence.
My opponent will likely cite incarceration rates or black markets. Those are serious problems, but they're consequences of the illegal market, not proof the policy itself is broken. Legalizing everything isn't a solution—it trades one set of harms for another. The war on drugs isn't perfect, but it's not an abject failure.
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